SODA.Auto: Driving the Future of the Automotive Industry

Headquartered in London, SODA.Auto is transforming the automotive industry by developing a revolutionary range of automotive tools, powered by AI and digital twin technology. The incredible mind behind this budding enterprise is CEO Sergey Malygin, who has recently been named Most Influential CEO 2024 – UK (AI Engineering Tools Development) in the Most Influential CEO Awards 2024. Here, we dive deeper into SODA’s fascinating work and Sergey’s excellent leadership of the company.

Following an impressive career in the automotive and telecommunications industries, Sergey Malygin was inspired to establish SODA in 2023, envisioning a world in which brand-new vehicle models can be brought to life with just a few clicks. During its first year of operation, the company has achieved remarkable success, launching a multitude of products to the market. This includes SODA.Validate, SODA.Sim, SODA AI Hub, SODA.Library, and SODA SDV Kit.

SODA products address a range of challenges currently faced by the automotive industry. For example, with budgets per vehicle rapidly decreasing, the traditional method of delegating tasks to a large number of suppliers and spending millions on each of them is not sustainable. Recently, Chinese companies have developed the ability to deliver a competitive product in a short period of time. In order to compete with this, automakers must speed up vehicle creation and reduce development costs.

This is where SODA SDV Kit comes in. The product is the world’s first ready-to-use kit for making a Software Defined Vehicle (SDV), consisting of AI-powered engineering tools, flexible E/E architecture, and a software library with over 200 features, software, and tests. The kit makes vehicle software engineering twice as fast whilst reducing its cost by three quarters, all without compromising on quality, safety, and security.

Since early on in his career, Sergey has taken on a variety of leadership positions, including Product Manager, Director of Programme Management, and Chief Technology Officer. In this, he has headed up teams consisting of up to 750 employees. As a result, when he branched out on his own to establish SODA, he was well-equipped with the leadership experience needed to drive his new team to success.

At SODA, when Sergey and his team prepared to launch Validate Studio, an automated testing tool for automotive software, Sergey noticed a crucial component was missing: AI. With the launch imminent and little time for restructuring, Sergey tasked SODA’s Chief Architect to find ways to integrate AI. In a very short time they developed and seamlessly integrated AI co-pilot, which assists engineers in writing tests and radically reduces the human time. This significant adjustment was a shock for the team, yet the integration was seamlessly executed. Sergey’s strategic insight into technology trends and his effective resource management allowed the team to enhance the product without delaying the launch, achieving outstanding results.

Sergey enjoys setting up goals that challenge his employees to go beyond their perceived limits. Often, people may doubt their abilities, but once they embrace Sergey’s guidance and take on tasks they thought were beyond their reach, remarkable transformations occur. They achieve great successes and gain a newfound pride in their capabilities, realising they can accomplish far more than they imagined. Although this operating mode is demanding, Sergey has successfully built a team that thrives on overcoming challenges and strives daily to become better versions of themselves.

Sergey has always had a keen sense for technology trends, accurately foreseeing the rise of SDV, AI, and Digital Twin technologies in the automotive industry. This foresight allowed him to incorporate these technologies into the foundation of all SODA products. Understanding the challenges of penetrating the market dominated by big OEMs with substantial legacies, Sergey strategically targeted automotive startups, which were more receptive to implementing innovative solutions. This approach paid off, with companies like Charge Cars and Helixx becoming first SODA customers.

Sergey also anticipated a shift towards new business models in the automotive sector, where companies would adopt integrated technologies, simplifying supplier management and cutting costs and production times. This vision has materialised, attracting future clients among automotive startups who now integrate SODA technologies into their business models, enhancing their appeal to investors.

As a result, it is no surprise that Sergey has been named Most Influential CEO 2024 – UK (AI Engineering Tools Development) in the Most Influential CEO Awards 2024.

Looking towards the future, Sergey’s upcoming plans are centred around the release of a new product, SODA.Create, putting the last brick into SODA Tools Suite called SODA V. This comprehensive solution enables seamless engineering experience for requirements management, architecture, software design, and system and vehicle validation in a single user-friendly tool, enabling clients to avoid the hassle of integrating several separate automotive tools. Furthermore, SODA is actively onboarding new customers, and some exciting partnership announcements are on the horizon.

For further information, please contact Sergey Malygin or visit soda.auto